South Africa’s University of Pretoria is one of the locations for the World Economic Forum (WEF’s) Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) to launch in 2025.
This was announced at a signing agreement for the three new C4IRs at the 2025 WEF annual meeting, currently under way in Davos, Switzerland, under the theme: “Collaboration for the intelligent age”.
A South African delegation, led by president Cyril Ramaphosa, is attending the annual meeting. Science, technology and innovation minister Blade Nzimande and communications minister Solly Malatsi are part of the delegation.
According to the WEF, the new C4IRs will open in Muscat in Oman, Pretoria in SA, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, C4IR United Arab Emirates has been renewed.
The upcoming centres will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and the energy transition, the twin challenges of industry digitisation and decarbonisation, and cyber security economics, notes the advocacy organisation.
“The upcoming launches of three new C4IR centres underscore our commitment to shaping a future where technology better serves humanity,” says Børge Brende, WEF president and CEO.
“Together with our growing network of global partners, we will continue to harness the power of innovation to address society's most pressing challenges and create localised solutions with global reach.”
The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a platform for multi-stakeholder collaboration, bringing together public and private sectors to maximise technological benefits to society, while minimising the risks.
It explores exponential technologies and drives their responsible adoption and application, leveraging a global network of independent national and thematic centres, notes the forum.
The WEF launched the first C4IR in San Francisco in 2017, followed shortly by centres in Japan and India. The network now includes centres in over 10 countries.
In SA, the centre will aim to advance the nation’s readiness for the future of global value chains and the energy transition, with a focus on inclusive cross-industry digitisation and decarbonisation.
It will be hosted by the University of Pretoria and run in collaboration with other local academic institutions.
In addition, the centre will partner with government and business, and leverage the WEF’s global communities and initiatives.
“The launch of the centre for industry and technology, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, is a major step in driving technological progress and industrial transformation,” comments Francis Petersen, vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Pretoria.
“The centre will help position South Africa for manufacturing readiness and support its sustainable energy transition towards net zero.”
United front
Meanwhile, global leaders used the annual meeting to call for renewed global collaboration in the intelligent age.
Addressing the gathering this week, Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and chairman of the board of trustees, said: “This transition from the industrial to the intelligent age is occurring at an exponential pace, carrying unprecedented risks for humanity as we strive to prepare and adapt for its complexities.
“Yet, it also offers significant opportunities to transcend our current challenges and spark a new renaissance – one defined by advancements in knowledge, health, culture and societal welfare.”
Schwab called on the global community to rise to the moment with “constructive optimism”, urging stakeholders from all sectors – government, business, civil society and academia – to unite in crafting solutions to shared challenges.
“By embracing constructive optimism and believing in our collective capacity and commitment to improving the state of the world, we can shape the intelligent age as an age where every human being can realise their full potential.”
With South Africa recently assuming the G20 presidency, Ramaphosa used the meeting to outline Africa's objectives for the G20 Summit.
The summit is set to take place in Johannesburg in November, the first to be hosted in Africa.
“As we confront the challenges of the 21st century – from climate change to pandemics, from poverty to terrorism, from migration to AI – we are again called upon to harness that most powerful, and that most enduring, of human attributes: mutually-beneficial cooperation and collaboration.”
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